Absolutism in Europe 1600-1700
France • Cardinal Richelieu 1585-1642• Minister to Louis XIII and his
mother Marie de Medici• Sought to strengthen royal
control of France• Established a spy network to
seek out plots by France’s nobility to overthrow the king
• Executed enemies of the king without trial
• Effectively destroyed the power of the Huguenots, the Protestant minority of France
• Louis XIII died shortly after Richelieu, giving way to Cardinal Mazarine
Louis XIV 1638-1715
• Cardinal Mazarine (1602-1661) was Richelieu’s chosen successor
• Mazarine was the regent for Louis XIV from 1638-1661
• The Fronde 1648-1652 A rebellion of peasants and nobles against the formation of a strong monarchy.
Sun King• Louis ascended the throne at
age 23• Created a strict schedule for all
daily events of court and seldom deviated from his routine
• Came to embody the ideals of an absolute monarch
• Built the massive palace complex of Versailles, and required all nobles to live near and attend court daily
• Chose his ministers from new noble families, and encouraged rivalries for his favor among other nobles
Policies of Louis XIV
• Issued the Edict of Fontainebleau to break Huguenot power
• Appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert as finance minister
• Created an army of 400,000 troops
• Engaged in 4 major wars
Spain and Prussia
• In the years following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Spain began a slow process of decline.
• Prussia began to develop its noble class know as the Junkers.
• One of the leading Junker family was the Hohenzollern family.
• Prussia’s military also began to increase in size.
Russia
• Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) became the first czar of Russia by crushing the Russian nobility.
• 1613 Romanov Dynasty founded
• Peter the Great (1689-1725)
Peter the Great • Began his reign typical of
Russia’s nobility.• 1697-1698 toured western
Europe and returned to Russia determined to enact social, economic, political, and military reforms
• Forced western European social standards for Russia’s nobles, and ended the seclusion of Russian women
• Waged a war with Sweeden from 1700-1721 to establish a port on the Baltic Sea. St. Petersburg founded 1703.
• Gained the provinces of Estonia, Korelia, and Livonia
Austria
• Composed of 5 major regions, added parts of Hungary and Bohemia
• 1683 An Austrian led army defeated the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Vienna, virtually ending the Islamic threat to western Europe by 1687.
• Austria never formed a strong centralized monarchy.
England
• 1603 Queen Elizabeth died
• Stuart dynasty began with the reign of James I, originally from Scotland
• James had a poor relationship with Parliament and a group of reformers in the Church of England known as the Puritans
Civil War
• Charles I (1625-1649) and Parliament agreed on even fewer ideals than that of his father James I.
• Parliament passed sweeping social reforms that Charles refused to acknowledge.
• Charles began to rule without the consent of Parliament
• Puritans began to leave England for America
• War broke out between the king and Parliament in 1642
Oliver Cromwell
• Parliament was led by Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army
• Charles was defeated and executed on Jan. 30, 1649.
• Cromwell abolished the monarchy and ruled as dictator of an English republic.
• 1658 Stuart Restoration brought back the monarchy after Cromwell’s death under Charles II 1658-1685
Glorious Revolution 1688• James II (1633-1701) was a
devout Catholic, but had 2 Protestant daughters Mary and Anne.
• James’ second wife gave birth to a son
• Parliament made contact with Mary about becoming queen. She agreed so long as her husband William of Orange could also be king. Parliament agreed.
• The Glorious Revolution resulted in the overthrow of James II and the reign of William and Mary in a nearly bloodless revolution.
• English Bill of Rights gave most of the power in England to Parliament.